Editorial: A ‘Catch-22' on Union Avenue

The Nineteenth Century Club faces tough decisions about the future of its historic Union Avenue mansion.

The Nineteenth Century Club has a long, glorious philanthropic and civic history in Memphis.

Now, the historic mansion on Union Avenue that the club has called home since 1926 could be facing a wrecking ball if court-ordered repairs aren't made. The repairs could cost $1.5 million to more than $2 million.

But before the preservationist militia is called to arms or business interests start circling, club members will need to decide the organization's and the building's future.

The deteriorating mansion at 1433 Union has been cited for numerous building code violations, despite efforts to make needed and court-ordered repairs. Because of the problems, said president Lynn Heathcott, the club has been unfairly placed in a "Catch-22" situation that has required it to cancel revenue-generating events such as weddings. Architects have told her the building is structurally sound.

The Nineteenth Century Club was founded 120 years ago. Contrary to the perceptions of some, it has been more than a garden and tea club for wealthy women. Its Union Avenue home is a symbol of what women have accomplished in this community.

From its earliest days, the club was a haven from which women could defy the conventions that a woman's place was simply to honor her husband, keep house and raise their children.

Club members pushed for women's suffrage before it became the law of the land. They helped in the establishment of the Regional Medical Center.

They established a fund to buy books in Braille for the library and helped establish a broom factory so the sightless could have jobs.

They organized broom brigades to clean the city's streets, attacked the city's merchants for charging exorbitant prices and established a facility where dying tuberculosis patients could receive more humane hospice care.

The club now faces a challenge that is emblematic of other entities that find themselves struggling to maintain older buildings on limited funds.

Nineteenth Century Club members face a tough decision. Should they try to hang on to a building that has meant so much to their history? Should they sell it to someone who will commit to spending funds for an adaptive reuse, and use money from the sale to continue their philanthropic and civic activities?

The club doesn't need a mansion to continue its mission.

Union Avenue has several examples of former mansions that have been converted to offices or shops.

In the best of worlds that would be a fitting future for a building from which so much good has sprung.